


The Need to Survive

by Shadowblight



Category: Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 14:48:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1095255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowblight/pseuds/Shadowblight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyubey has only one job. It can still be quite demanding, but it is his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Need to Survive

**Author's Note:**

  * For [xiuxi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/xiuxi/gifts).



> I really didn't like this piece myself, it just seemed too simplistic. But I DO hope my Yuletider can at least get some enjoyment from it. Really sorry if you don't, but I couldn't come up with anything else somehow. ._.;

The universe had many demands.

Kyubey had only one set to answer to, for the purpose of protecting that universe.

His only job was appealing to adolescent female bipeds from the rather, all things considered, insignificant planet called Earth.

***

The first step was always the most important. Choosing one's form. First impressions are lasting, as it is said. This fact remained universal no matter the species you were.

By nature, Kyubey's kind has no natural form. It is not even on any elemental chart the humans have generated. It is neither solid, liquid, gas, or even plasma. Words in any tongue for any region on Earth could not ever describe what they are composed of. 

Incubators had been masters of observation of many planets before Earth, and as such, they found it not difficult at all to insert themselves into the daily lives of their targets without their notice.

Kyubey had seen very many human girls come to their potential, but it had started with just one.

***

Primitive was not a word Kyubey liked to think of lightly, given the breadth of his observations across time and space, but there was little questioning that Earth was only just obtaining its first few intelligent life forms.

The girl was incredibly tiny when he first saw her. His kind had no form other than the one they were initially granted, though he had seen evidence of parents caring for young in the past. Still, this creature was only about a quarter of the size of its full-grown parents.

Swathed in animal fur to protect from the cold, in a sling made of more of the same material, strapped to her father's back, she traveled.

Her name was Mana.

Not all creatures named themselves; in some cultures it was even considered offensive. Still, Kyubey noted the name, and noted how closely she ran her face against the soft pelt as she bounced along.

Something tangible. Something soft. Something warm.

***

As Mana grew older, she also grew bolder.

Going outside during the dark was forbidden. Mana was old enough to walk, but young enough to not understand the meaning of dangers. Kyubey himself found the lack of logic for many species during developmental stages to be not relatable to his own; as a being which is granted knowledge and functions directly from conception, there were many things lost in translation when it came to “learning”.

One spring evening, Mana awoke to hear the delicate sounds of the nearby stream that she loved to visit and watch all the various fish sparkle as they swam by.

Something bright. Something eye-catching.

Though the trees let that sound drift to her ears, the large cat hungry for his next meal had feet guarded against such easy detection, and as it stood to begin stalking Mana when she exited the cave, only Kyubey had been alerted. He began to follow, always several steps ahead of the cat. If his kind were capable of concern, one might call it that, though really it was just an understanding of the nature of predator and prey, and an interest in the potential charge being lost before it could reach maturity.

Mana reached the edge of the water, her mother and father still resting in the cave not far away, and sat on her knees at its edge. Her face was eager and full of expectations. Only once she'd looked furtively over the surface for many seconds did she realize that she could not see any fish, just the shimmer of moonlight on the surface.

Her expression then turned to one of disappointment, but at the same time the interest over the discovery of a new wonder lurked beneath it. Mana was fascinated.

Something that brings new hope.

Then the big cat crouched behind the girl, waiting to spring, but Kyubey had already seen what it was this girl needed. With a shimmer, he faded into existence, a bright white creature, a mixture of a couple animals he know she'd seen previously, with soft warm fur.

As Kyubey revealed himself, only then did the girl's attention turn from the water. She noticed the cat first, menacing with rows of bared teeth wanting to rip away her flesh. Though she did not understand yet what the end result would be, she understood the aggressive posture. Terrified, she turned on her back and scrambled backwards into the water, splashing around and letting loose a yelp. But the terror in her eyes eventually paralyzed the rest of her motions and sounds.

Kyubey walked toward the girl, a beacon of inexplicable hope against all odds, and said to her mind, “I would help you save yourself. Tell me, girl. What is your wish?”

She shook her head, because it was too good to be true. But then, there he stood, completely unafraid, and in fact ignoring the looming, growling form of the cat. He was everything Mana needed: simple survival in the face of adversity. She needed his help, and he was everything she'd come to trust and believe in, in this world.

“Save me!” she yelled, and then sunk trembling into the water that sopped through her clothes. “Just help!”

It was at that moment her father came crashing through the woods, and just as the cat had decided it had toyed enough with its dinner and made a leap, a great solid club smacked it from the air. The creature crunched solidly against a rock glistening from the water, smearing it with blood from its now crushed skull, right next to the shaking girl.

Mana had never seen so much blood herself. It was awful, and smelled awful, and she never, ever wanted to have to deal with it again.

She struggled ineffectually to raise herself from the water for a moment, but then her father took two large strides and scooped her up. He held her tightly as she cried, burying her head into his shoulder, murmuring things like, “It's okay Mana, you're safe now.”

Only once she finished crying did she suddenly remember the white creature she'd seen. She stretched and looked around, still in the safety of her father's arms. She couldn't see Kyubey at all. He had hidden himself again.

In his mind, Kyubey's only thought was. “Next time, then.”

He would wait. After all, he already knew what he needed to be, what desires he needed to fulfill. In the end, it really wasn't much different than his own goal:

Survival.


End file.
